Hire A Consultant Finding Or Being The Best Consultant Available

Writen by Julie Hanahan

Whether you need a consultant, want to be a consultant, or want to expand your consulting practice, understanding the primary motivations for hiring a consultant will determine a good fit.

Hire a consultant for their field of expertise.

For the business:

Define your goals and expectations before you begin your consultant search. The more focused your requirements, the more effective your selection of a consultant will be. For the consultant:

What do you really know? What are your demonstrated strengths? Define your area of expertise narrowly. Work towards developing a result-based portfolio.

Hire a consultant to solve problems.

For the business:

If something needs tweaking in your company, allow your well-qualified consultant to do their job. You may think your problem in staff retention is on the manufacturing floor, when it may lie in faulty HR practices. Offer your consultants your thoughts, but be open to their observations. Their overview and fresh perspective may give your company new clarity. For the consultant:

Tap into your intuitive side. Examine each situation as it stands. Textbook rules are not always the only way to approach a challenge.

Hire a consultant to supplement existing staff.

For the business:

Do a comparison of total employment cost. A full time employee, with benefits and other perqs added, will almost certainly cost more than a consultant. In addition, a consultant may complete work faster and more efficiently than house staff. For the consultant:

When creating your proposal, be realistic in your time estimates and fees. Factor in your own overhead, travel, benefits and taxes.

Hire a consultant to implement changes.

For the business:

The well-positioned consultant as outsider can be more effective in gaining consensus among employees. Without immersion in daily operations, change proposed by consultants may be accepted more readily by employees. To the consultants:

To direct change in a company, be certain you understand the psychology of change. Change can only be effectively created through a perception of benefits to the staff. Prepare for resistance, and be ready to change objections to positives.

Hire a consultant to train.

For the business: Consultants are available to teach almost any skill. Be certain their experience comes from practice, not theory. Hands on training shouldn't come from book learning alone. For the consultant:

Have practical experience to offer.

Hire a consultant to be the "fall guy".

For the business:

Keeping company morale high may require an outside heavy to make cuts or unpopular adjustments to your company. Fully explore options with your consultant, and inform them of your plans to downsize, consolidate or restructure. For the consultant:

You get paid to do something no one else wants to do. Be prepared and accepting of your responsibility if you accept this kind of assignment.

Hire a consultant to start your business.

For the business:

A start-up consultant can assist you in all phases of start-up from initial funding and business plans to growth planning. Determine your own weaknesses and work with a consultant that has the skill set you lack. For the consultant:

From online businesses to Fortune 100 companies, new ventures need your specialized talents. Review your own skill set for tools which would benefit a start-up.

Hire a consultant for their contacts.

For the business: A consultant may be able to provide you with elusive introductions for fund raising, entertaining, community support or lobbying. Even if this is not your primary reason for hiring a consultant, explore how their contacts may benefit your company. For the consultant:

Your personal networking can be a bonus to your clients. Offer appropriate contacts to your clients and potential clients. Expanding your sphere of contacts will not only benefit your business, but clients will appreciate your introductions.

Whether your company is considering a consultant, or you are a consultant, understanding the key reasons for contracting help can make your efforts more successful.

Mastering public relations and media relations challenges all businesses. Julie Hanahan and Constant Communication (http://www.ConstantComm.com) provides consultant services to both industrial and service based clients. For more tips and to subscribe to the FREE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, log on to http://www.ConstantComm.com, or email the author at JulieHanahan@ConstantComm.com.

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Welldefined Processes How To Create

Writen by Chris Anderson

Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process Approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act.

Real Tools for Real Business Process

In MBA courses, students come across a lot of buzzwords and the theories behind them. And in the textbook, the terms look and sound great. But after they finish with their classes, they think to themselves: so now what I can I do with all of these terms like process mapping and control? How can I use these tools in my job, and why is it important for my business – in the real world?

A Fresh, New Look Management Effectiveness

Even though these business men and women are feeling a little discouraged, they still know the importance of attaining this knowledge. So, for their jobs, they look to take further courses out there like "How to Create Well-Defined Processes to Build Effective Management Systems." They are a little skeptical going in, thinking that they will get just more of the same quick and simple definitions. But, surprisingly, they are happy to say that such a course shows them something quite different.

These courses fill in the missing context that they need. It thoroughly shows them the how, and thoughtfully explains the why. They receive a fresh outlook, and many highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to improve their business.

Easy Learning Process

Fortunately, because of such a course's open classroom environment, the instructors can answer both general and specific questions. The setting welcomes participation and discussion to develop solutions, which on-the-go business professionals very much appreciate. And so did Otis Jones, PMO Manager at Sara Lee Baking Group, who attended such a course. He was especially impressed with the user friendliness of the course content.

"Process mapping, process variability and the various process diagnostic tools were all excellent lessons to learn," Jones said. "The detail that they gave me in these areas was exactly what I was hoping for." Jones also said that he would push for other Sara Lee managers to take such a course so that they can better prepare for their business discovery phase. Next Jones will implement the information he learned into his company's internal training documents.

Gain Process Knowledge

And many others too are encouraged. Such courses prove to them that a business does not have to just hope for the best of luck. Business owners and executives can clearly define processes, and then monitor and improve them to keep the system consistent, efficient and effective. With Plan-Do-Check-Act, this can let one see if there is any waste in the system, and also how to reduce this waste and save money.

Walk Away Empowered

Individuals can walk away energized with a sense of empowerment. They can walk away with the profound knowledge that they can make tangible improvements in everyday processes. Everyone desires to feel better about their jobs and businesses, and through this type of course they can take the first steps to learn how.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering with companies both large and small. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. He is now director of Bizmanualz, Inc.

Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com

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Whos Plundering Your Plumbing Business

Writen by Jan Smith

If you occasionally feel that you are working for nothing, chances are that you are.

How many times have you put your invoice in for payment only to have to wait for 30 days for your money? If this is happening to you and your business, chances are that your business is being plundered by pillagers.

Pillagers are those people who sneak around thieving from you. They seem to have an instinctive nose for any Plumbing contractor in business who is not minding his business.

By not minding his business, I am referring to any plumbing business that is lax-a-daisical about his accounting procedures and following-up on over-due invoices. Every time you have an over-due account, it means you are paying for that client's job. So the question is, are you a Plumbing business or a financial services business?

It is the function of financial institutions to lend money, not a Plumbing Contractors. Any Plumber in business today has to be a good business person first. Why? Because no matter how good a Plumber you are, if you aren't being paid at job completion you soon won't have your own Plumbing business to grow into a business.

Business is about profits. Building profit into each job to grow a business from your Plumbing activities. Plumbing is how you make the money to grow your business.

In today's technological world there is no excuse for not being paid at job completion every time. There is no excuse except excuses for being a bad business operator.

With the information highway that the Internet provides, there is training and information products readily available for learning any aspect of operating a Plumbing business you may need assistance with. There is no shame in acknowledging you need information. Besides, no-one even needs to know that you are learning via the internet anyway, but if you feel your business could be run better, then you would be a poor business operator if you didn't seek out the information.

You didn't 'just become a Plumber' did you? You studied hard and 'did your time' learning. What makes you so sure then that you can run a successful Plumbing business without learning? Just because you are an excellent Plumber does not necessarily equate that you are therefore a good business operator.

All new skills have to be learnt from the bottom up. Building a business is no different.

Treat your business like a job site. Plan it out, lay it out on paper, understand why you have to dig the ditch to the required depth before you lay the pipe – by understanding why things have to be done in your Plumbing business allows you to plan ahead. Once you have this planning done, you can then see what needs to be done to achieve the desired outcome.

Because you have a plan for your business you will be able to quickly see who or what is plundering your business and stop it before it becomes too late.

Pillaging is still a crime so make sure you aren't the one responsible for plundering your own Plumbing business.

http://www.constructingprofits.com Showing contractors how to make more money ~ working less hours!

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Three Motivation Mistakes Managers Make

Writen by Ira Wolfe

I. Too much emphasis on pay, benefits, and perks:

The Saratoga Institute reports that 88% of employees voluntarily leave their jobs for other reasons, such as misalignment of mutual expectations, person-job mismatch, insufficient coaching and feedback, perception of poor career-advancement prospects, work-life imbalance, and both distrust toward and low confidence in senior leadership. Still, most managers refuse to acknowledge the "push" factors, preferring to see the "pull" factor of more money as the prime motivator.

The truth is, both push and pull factors come into play, but companies make a big mistake by hanging their employee-retention strategies solely on the easier-to-manipulate tangible factors of more pay, better benefits, and flashier perks. It's not that these factors are unimportant; they're very important. In fact, most employers of choice typically offer better pay and benefits than their competitors. But what sets them apart are positive, caring cultures where most managers know how to provide the everyday coaching, feedback, and recognition that keep employees engaged.

II. Blindly following other companies' best practices:

One of the disadvantages of reading Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work in America" list each year is that we become so enamored of great employers that we think their best practices will work equally well for our companies. Sometimes they do, but often they don't.

The best employers thoughtfully match their cultures, benefits, and management practices to the needs and desires of their workers. FedEx gears its workplace to the short-term work-experience needs of younger part-timers, while American Express focuses on long-term career development with a strong emphasis on gender equity. SAS Institute has created an employment brand that says, "Come to work for us and enjoy a campus-like environment, and have a life outside of work." This software-development company is famous for its 3% turnover rate in an industry where 20% is the norm.

Most companies can't-or won't-invest the up-front dollars to do what SAS has done. The good news is they don't have to. But by asking their particular workforce what they most want and need, companies can usually provide what it takes to keep employees-and keep them engaged.

The danger of benchmarking against others in your industry is that it may keep you from tailoring an innovative benefit or practice to meet the needs of the 20% of the talent that's creating 80% of the value in your company or department.

III. Failure to train managers and hold them accountable:

Studies of employee turnover consistently show that the direct supervisor builds or destroys employee commitment. Yet, how many companies select executives for their ability to manage people, train them in effective people-management skills, and then hold them accountable? You could probably count those on the fingers of one hand.

Many employers of choice carefully monitor their managers' voluntary-turnover rates, new-hire retention rates, and employee-engagement survey scores, and reward those who score highly with bigger bonuses. Managers with low scores get lower bonuses and are called into meeting with their superiors, which may lead to more training, coaching, reassignment, or termination.

In other words, smart companies know that as the competition for talent heats up, they can no longer afford the luxury of another bad manager.

Ira Wolfe (iwolfe@super-solutions.com) is founder of Success Performance Solutions (http://www.super-solutions.com and http://www.best-small-business-solutions.com), a Lancaster consulting firm providing competency based employment and career testing. He has authored several books, Business Values and Motivators, The Perfect Labor Storm: Why Worker Shortages Will Not Go Away and a new e-book, Seven Surefire Steps to Hire High Motivation Employees.

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How To Save Money On Training

Writen by Steve Kaye

1) Use a live instructor. Adults learn best by doing, practicing, and experiencing. Effective instructors customize their programs to meet people's needs, provide counsel on individual challenges, and respond to questions. Videos, CDs, and E-learning are seldom effective for primary learning. Since the greatest cost of learning is the payroll cost of the participants, you want to make sure the program delivers results.

2) Hire external experts. They can speak candidly about crucial issues related to complex work skills. They are free of prior encounters with your staff. And they bring a fresh, outside perspective based on a worldwide view (instead of an internal one). Those who specialize in one skill area have developed extensive knowledge. Ideally, choose one who has written books or published articles.

3) Include accountability. Work with the instructor to develop a review and reminder process. Plan follow-up sessions to check on progress applying new techniques. Ask your staff to select one change that they plan to make and describe how they will apply it. Then monitor the application of changes being made. Include learning as a dimension in performance reviews.

4) Support learning. If you're the boss, set an example of active learning. Attend the workshop. Then use what you learned. Encourage others to apply the new skills and reward those who make a special effort to do so. Also, recommend articles, books, and other materials that support the training program. Create a work culture that recognizes learning as the key to excellence.

5) Buy smart. Match the type of program with desired skills. Use employees for proprietary operations, routine procedures, and high volume (more than 50 sessions/year) tutorials. Select programs that teach skills required to meet company goals. Buy programs that show practical techniques (instead of facts and trivia) delivered by experts who use what they teach.

IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and author Steve Kaye works with leaders who want to hold effective meeting. His innovative workshops have informed and inspired people nationwide. His facilitation produces results that people will support. Call 714-528-1300 or visit his web site for over 100 pages of valuable ideas. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.stevekaye.com

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